Ieti Fuima

Ieti Fuima (1835-1913) was a Micronesian chief who lived on Wake Island during the 19th century. Ieti Fuima was born in 1835, and he was a member of the ruling clan of the island. He became chief around 1870, and, with the arrival of Japanese fishermen in the early 1880s, he agreed to accept their settlement in exchange for the Micronesian elite remaining in power. However, the Japanese settlers poured in and soon came to outnumber the natives, and, in 1889, Ieti Fuima agreed to accept the protection of the United States with the goal of ensuring the survival of the Micronesians. Ieti Fuima and other members of the elite became members of the Republican Party, and Ieti Fuima died in 1913.